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Clark Howard's Tips

June 27, 2008

While the price of oil has our attention, there's a renewed focus on finding cars that have the best fuel economy. Yet such vehicles are not necessarily the cheapest to own and operate.

For example, hybrids are hot right now. But they're not cheap to own. In fact, Edmunds.com has only 1 hybrid in the Top Ten on a new tally of truly cheap cars.

In addition to standard fuel costs, Edmunds looked at the purchase price; the rate of depreciation; the cost of insurance and more in making its selections. One word of warning: You can't draw any inferences about quality from this list; it only pertains to the raw costs associated with cars.

Without further ado, here are the 10 cheapest cars to own and operate: 1. Chevy Aveo 2. Hyundai Accent 3. Honda Fit 4. Toyota Yaris 5. Honda Civic 6. Nissan Versa 7. Kia Rio 8. Mazda 3 9. Toyota Corolla 10. Honda Civic Hybrid As you can see, these are all smaller cars. They all get around 30 mpg (composite) for average fuel economy. But their true cost is so much cheaper than most of the hybrids.

Out of this list, several cars also come highly recommended by Consumer Reports. They include the Fit, the Mazda 3, the Versa and the Honda Civic/Honda Civic Hybrid.

Consumer advice courtesy of